Why not put "Mickey's PhilharMagic" in the Carthay Circle Theater

[JiminyCricketFan]

With the Cathay Circle Theater being in such a central and important location, the attraction should not must be any attraction, but really be something special. After all, it might become the symbol for the new DCA.

Here are three possiblities:

1) It be about Walt -- Some kind of movie or museum.

2) It be about Mickey Mouse -- Walt love to say it all started with a mouse.

3) It be a really spectacular AA show that kids and adults would enjoy, maybe with Mickey and the fav 5 or something.

I really like the GMR at Disney Hollywood Studios, but it has suffered because the movies it featured are now dated. This attraction really has to be timeless and not a promote what is popular today kind of place.

[Coheteboy]

With the Cathay Circle Theater being in such a central and important location, the attraction should not must be any attraction, but really be something special. After all, it might become the symbol for the new DCA.

Here are three possiblities:

1) It be about Walt -- Some kind of movie or museum.

2) It be about Mickey Mouse -- Walt love to say it all started with a mouse.

3) It be a really spectacular AA show that kids and adults would enjoy, maybe with Mickey and the fav 5 or something.

I really like the GMR at Disney Hollywood Studios, but it has suffered because the movies it featured are now dated. This attraction really has to be timeless and not a promote what is popular today kind of place.

I agree with your 3 possibilities. Although an attraction to feature Mickey Mouse seems a bit out of place now that Toon Town exists yes?

I totally see what you mean about the Great Movie Ride. I went in October and thought it was pretty terrible. The scenes we see don't really do anything at all. It's almost like watching a wax museum and the live spiels were rather bland. It needs to be memorable and visually impressive, much like Pirates.

[Aladdin]

The great movie ride is also boring because of the slow moving vehicle.
The Vehicle are WAY too Big, so the experience is not nearly as personal as most other dark rides.
The vehicle doesn't have any quick turns or and other fun motion like most other dark rides.

[tasman]

^^ I would have to disagree about GMR...I enjoyed it (my first time on it was this December), and I'm glad that DHS has a big AA ride as its centerpiece. Yes it's dated and the vehicles are too big, but it does a perfect job of setting the theme of this particular park...and the cast members being part of the ride give it a nice unique aspect relative to previous big Disney AA rides like Pirates. All the more unfortunate that it went from a position of prominence to obscurity in the shadow of the Hat.

[Coheteboy]

The great movie ride is also boring because of the slow moving vehicle.
The Vehicle are WAY too Big, so the experience is not nearly as personal as most other dark rides.
The vehicle doesn't have any quick turns or and other fun motion like most other dark rides.

Agreed. I do love the concept of the ride. I just think the execution and pacing of it turns it into a snoozer.

[Lore]

I think they should put Dinosaurs in the theater. No one would expect that, no ever expects Dinosaurs!

[The Shadoe]

Just a thought... but Disney's CALIFORNIA Adventure is getting further and further away from California and seems just to consist of more random things as time goes forward. Why not refocus and put something more "California" in there?

[dizneefan87]

idk if anyone has ever been to the american pavillion section at epcot and seen the AMAZING voices of liberty, but i think that would be SOO awesome of they had a voices of liberty on the west coast in the new carthay theater and sang americana and california themed a capella songs before people watched a show. The voices of liberty has a HUGE fan base and attracts many people just to watch them. I think it would be really awesome to have them here. Any thoughts on this suggestion?

[Squirrel Mahn]

I think that Carthay Circle should house the original AA Golden Dreams show hosted by an AA Walt Disney explaining why he came to California and how California is growing and changing. Seems a bit far fetched and strange to have Walt as an AA figure but wouldn't it also be a bit fitting. Still also showcase all that he did as well. I mean if Ben Franklin, Abe Lincoln and Mark Twain can walk and talk again why not our beloved Walt.

[Uncle Bob]

I think that it is important that the theater be used, and that what goes on there needs to accomplish several things besides just being a typical attraction. IMO this is one of the biggest challenges WDI faces with this remodel. I think it’s a big mistake to open the new entrance to the park without something going in that theater. I think it is a big PR mistake to have this beautiful new building, located so prominently, left empty. This is exactly the type of thing that people have complained about DCA from the beginning, and though I’m generally a supporter of most of the plans so far, I think this is a critical mistake. I can already hear the terrible reviews from the online community and mainstream media as well that Dis would get if the theater opens empty. It’s just screams of being either cheap and/or not creative, the primary failings and complaints of this park.

There are several criteria that I think must be met in order to make the attraction that goes in this location successful:

-The attraction will most likely need to be a ride as TDA doesn’t want another show. This is a valid concern for DCA I think, but you could argue they are wrong I suppose. Personally, I’d love a heavily AA based show, anything but a 4D movie. In either case, the reality is that TDA isn’t likely going to buy into any show going into that location, so a ride seems to be a practical reality.

-The ride needs to help unify the concept and design of the park as a whole. This is vitally important IMO. Somehow the story of what this park is somehow needs to be conveyed to the audience. Whatever ride that goes here should help tell the story of the park. Unfortunately, I’m not sure even WDI is clear on what this story is; I know most of us aren’t. I see the direction they’re going and I think it holds a lot of promise actually, but I think it’s actually a somewhat complex story to convey. It’s more about emotion and a feeling of what the promise of California meant to Walt personally and people throughout the nation and world. It’s no longer going to be about the real place California, it’s about the feelings and culture that had such a major effect on our society.

-The ride must connect us to Walt and the Disney Co.’s history. I think this will be critical in making this a “Disney” park and will help make an emotional connection for so many of us Californians who feel a personal connection to Disneyland, Disney magic and by extension the man himself and have no need to visit scaled down knock off’s of famous California monuments. I think this is not about satisfying just us hardcore fans, it will give the place some heart and soul that everyone will be able to feel. This is an extraordinary opportunity to actually transform DCA into a meaningful partner park to DL.

[sediment]

I just wanna give credit to DoppelV for thinking of this idea and thought it deserved to be placed in the Disneyland section of the Micechat boards. First off, I understand Disney's complaint saying that only the die-hard fans will go to the Walt Disney Story attraction for the first couple of months and later on it will be less crowded because people will not develop a great interest for another "show" attraction, its a believable argument. But why build a buildiong if you are not going to put nothing in it, I just find that plain stupid. Why not just put Mickey's PhilharMagic into the Carthay theater, it is already a popular attraction in the Magic Kingdom and it will get a huge base of guests per day. I think this is the way to go because it is an opera-type movie attraction that can fit into the theater very well. This will slve the problem with the hard time they would have trying to fit it into the Muppet-Vision building. I know this would mean that DCA would have a large number of 3-D attractions (3) being the highest in any park I can think of, except for Universal Studios Japan of course, but I think they could make it work if they do it right. I just see it as a perfect fit now that the Carthay Circle Theater will be a big empty space.

1. I'd rather get something new.
2. Philharmagic isn't all that great.
3. I'd rather get four new film-type experiences than one thing that will sit unchanged for 20 years (see Muppet 3D in MGM DHS). Change it up, let me see something different each time. Create four at once and set the randomizer.

[Disneyphenom]

I'm putting this here -- because this has sorta turned to the "if not PhilharMagic, then what?" thread.

However, why would it be so horrible for the new icon for DCA to be just an icon and not have anything IN it? Would it be bad if the building was there for you to pass through en route to a different "land" instead of having an attraction?

When Disneyland first opened, Sleeping Beauty Castle was a pretty icon, but other than that was just a passageway for Fantasyland behind it. Today, without the walkthrough, it's pretty much the same.

Now, doing the same to the Carthay Circle Theater would make little sense to folks like US, since we know that the whole purpose of that Theater was to host a Walt Disney exhibit to give theme to the new Walt Disney Plaza. If there's nothing in there... it seems like a lot of wasted money for nothing. And we would be right to be unhappy.

But take a different look at this, for just a moment. Outside of everything on that last paragraph -- things that the general public wouldn't know or care much about...

It would turn that building into something very similar to the Castle. It's a nice pretty building at the hub -- an icon that's nice to take a photo in front of.

Outside of the disappointment WE would see with that fate, do you think the building existing as just a hub icon would be all that bad for DCA?

(Off my own topic, I'd rather see a nice attraction there. Bugs doesn't have enough building space for a nice BIG e-ticket, however if they empty out Playhouse Disney and the Animation building, it's a much larger show building. Disneyland covers the True-Life Adventures (somewhat) and the Animation world -- it may be interesting to see a Great Movie Ride based on some of the Disney Live Action classics over the years. Walt's live action legacy, in contrast to the animation elsewhere.)

[animagusurreal]

I'm putting this here -- because this has sorta turned to the "if not PhilharMagic, then what?" thread.

However, why would it be so horrible for the new icon for DCA to be just an icon and not have anything IN it? Would it be bad if the building was there for you to pass through en route to a different "land" instead of having an attraction?

When Disneyland first opened, Sleeping Beauty Castle was a pretty icon, but other than that was just a passageway for Fantasyland behind it. Today, without the walkthrough, it's pretty much the same.

Now, doing the same to the Carthay Circle Theater would make little sense to folks like US, since we know that the whole purpose of that Theater was to host a Walt Disney exhibit to give theme to the new Walt Disney Plaza. If there's nothing in there... it seems like a lot of wasted money for nothing. And we would be right to be unhappy.

But take a different look at this, for just a moment. Outside of everything on that last paragraph -- things that the general public wouldn't know or care much about...

It would turn that building into something very similar to the Castle. It's a nice pretty building at the hub -- an icon that's nice to take a photo in front of.

Outside of the disappointment WE would see with that fate, do you think the building existing as just a hub icon would be all that bad for DCA?

(Off my own topic, I'd rather see a nice attraction there. Bugs doesn't have enough building space for a nice BIG e-ticket, however if they empty out Playhouse Disney and the Animation building, it's a much larger show building. Disneyland covers the True-Life Adventures (somewhat) and the Animation world -- it may be interesting to see a Great Movie Ride based on some of the Disney Live Action classics over the years. Walt's live action legacy, in contrast to the animation elsewhere.)

Well, it would be better than just having it be an empty facade that you can't go into at all.

I was just thinking - most people don't usually go into castles, so they don't mind just passing through one to the other side. However, most people do go into movie theaters, so if the building is recognizable as a movie theater, I think there should be something in there.

[Uncle Bob]

I agree that being able to pass thru would be better than nothing, but it just doesn't make sence the way it does unless it is a gateway to another place like the castle is.

Thinking about it though, I can see some good possibilities with this idea, it gives them another reason to rip out Bugs Land and create a new land there that you enter through the Cathay. Maybe this could work.

[Coheteboy]

I'm putting this here -- because this has sorta turned to the "if not PhilharMagic, then what?" thread.

However, why would it be so horrible for the new icon for DCA to be just an icon and not have anything IN it? Would it be bad if the building was there for you to pass through en route to a different "land" instead of having an attraction?

When Disneyland first opened, Sleeping Beauty Castle was a pretty icon, but other than that was just a passageway for Fantasyland behind it. Today, without the walkthrough, it's pretty much the same.

Now, doing the same to the Carthay Circle Theater would make little sense to folks like US, since we know that the whole purpose of that Theater was to host a Walt Disney exhibit to give theme to the new Walt Disney Plaza. If there's nothing in there... it seems like a lot of wasted money for nothing. And we would be right to be unhappy.

But take a different look at this, for just a moment. Outside of everything on that last paragraph -- things that the general public wouldn't know or care much about...

It would turn that building into something very similar to the Castle. It's a nice pretty building at the hub -- an icon that's nice to take a photo in front of.

Outside of the disappointment WE would see with that fate, do you think the building existing as just a hub icon would be all that bad for DCA?

Disneyland was built in 1955 under incredibly quick conditions and a very tight budget.

It's now 2008. This thing is set to open in 2011 and they can't agree on what's going in. It's the problem with having too many cooks in the kitchen and no single vision to listen to. Walt had that single vision and that's why we have so many Disneyland fans fight with the company on many of their decisions. Heck, we even apply the same thought process to DCA.

DCA opened with very few rides, too many shops and restaurants, and far too many empty facades. To release the plans for a $1.1 billion expansion and re-open with yet another facade... especially for the new icon of the park would be another PR nightmare.